Top 10 Pop Songs That Caused HUGE Lawsuits

#10: Uptown Funk (2014)Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

This funky number has led to some funky lawsuitsplural. The song has been accused of similarities with 1979s Oops Up Side Your Head by the Gap Band. Other songs the composition was alleged to take from included a Serbian song, the electro-funk Young Girls from 1983, and The Sequences Funk You Up. The song has also been accused of being similar to Zapps 1980 More Ounce to the Bounce. While many of the lawsuits have been dropped, the Gap Band did receive 17% of the publishing royalties, with Rudolph Taylor and producer Lonnie Simmons receiving credit as co-writers. You dont mess with the eighties.

#9: Shape of You (2017)Ed Sheeran

This blockbuster hit was the first one to hit two billion streams on Spotify. But it may not have been a completely original composition. It wasnt long before musicians Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue accused Sheeran of using lines from their 2015 song, Oh Why. By 2022, the parties were in court. That said, the two songs are different in melody except the background chorus, Oh, I and Oh, why respectively. Its a very slight similarity that could be due to coincidence. In April 2022, the judge ruled in Sheerans favor.

#8: Ghostbusters (1984)Ray Parker Jr.

The theme song from the 1984 film Ghostbusters was a big hit and was even nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. Unfortunately, it was also hit with a plagiarism lawsuit claiming the song takes its melody from the song I Want a New Drug by Huey Lewis and the News. The filmmakers did admit they used the song as temporary background music. They even wanted to hire the band to write the theme song, but they refused. Though its not an exact copy, the similarities are there, for sure. Ray Parker Jr. settled the case out of court with a confidentiality agreement and an undisclosed sum. Busting ghosts is a tricky business.

#7: Come Together (1969)The Beatles

This song opened this bands legendary Abbey Road album of 1969. Even so, it may have in places copied You Can't Catch Me by Chuck Berry, both melodically and lyrically. The Beatles essentially slowed down the song and made some other changes musically and kept some of the lyrics. In 1973, the case was settled out of court, with John Lennon promising to cover three classic rock n roll numbers in his album. This album became 1975s Rock 'n' Roll, but Lennon withholding one of the songs from release led to another legal contention. Nobody came together for this song.

#6: Barbie Girl (1997)Aqua

Of course, if youre going to write a song about Barbie, Mattel is going to get involved. In 1997, the company sued MCA over the band Aquas song Barbie Girl, claiming it violated their trademark and misrepresented the doll. The court dismissed the case, as the song was obviously a parody protected under fair use. And in 2009, Mattel had the chutzpah to use the song in its advertisements with changed lyrics. In 2023, the soundtrack of the film Barbie included Nicki Minajs Barbie World, with the melody playing in the background. The parties, indeed, did not chill.

#5: Surfin USA (1963)

The Beach Boys

This is a more straightforward case of copyright infringement. The band has always been open about using Chuck Berrys Sweet Little Sixteen as the basis for its classic surfing song. Sure enough, the songs have nearly the same rhythm and melody. Still, the bands record did not credit Berry until 1966 with the release of the album Best of The Beach Boys. Berry had no hard feelings over the copying, though, and even stated he loved The Beach Boys lyrical rewrite. Brian Wilson was credited as writing the lyrics, although in 2015 Mike Love claimed to have worked together with Wilson to make the song into a surfing one. Alls well that ends well, we guess.

#4: Bitter Sweet Symphony (1997)The Verve

This song indeed leaves a bittersweet aftertaste. It turns out Virgin Records had acquired the rights for the Verve to use a sample of The Rolling Stones The Last Time from Decca Records, particularly the orchestral version from the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. However, the company did not obtain permission from the Rolling Stones manager, who refused to give it. Bitter Sweet Symphony, in short, borrowed more heavily from the Stones than was agreed upon, including the melody. The lawsuit had devastating consequences, with the Verve forced to relinquish 100% of their royalties and credit to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In 2019, both royalties and credit were given back to songwriter Richard Ashcroft. What a mess.

#3: My Sweet Lord (1970)George Harrison

In 1971, Bright Tunes Music Corporation sued Harrison for allegedly copying Ronnie Macks Hes So Fine when creating his massive 1970 hit. To make matters worse, The Chiffons, who had a big hit with Macks song in 1963, re-recorded it in 1975. The similarities musically are there, although the difference in subject and emotion are really different. This led to a truly contentious lawsuit, with Bright Tunes rejecting Harrisons offer of 40% of the royalties. Harrison claimed he had been inspired by the hymn, Oh Happy Day. Finally, by the 1990s, Harrison was found liable, although due to shenanigans by the other party, he was only forced to pay half a million dollars. He also received the rights to Hes So Fine. Incredible.

#2: Ice Ice Baby (1990)Vanilla Ice

This big hit led to a big lawsuit. The song was accused of ripping off Queen and David Bowies 1981 song, Under Pressure. Even to the untrained ear, its hard to miss the identical bass line in both, though Robert Van Winkle - Vanilla Ice's real name and one of the songwriters - claims he added some variation. He did admit he came up with the idea of sampling the Queen song after exploring his brothers old records. The case was settled out of court, with Bowie and Queen receiving songwriter credit and Van Winkle required to pay recompense to the songwriters. At least the melody was different.

#1: Blurred Lines (2013)Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell

This wildly controversial hit, accused of glorifying sexual violence, was accused y of plagiarizing Marvin Gayes Got to Give It Up and Funkadelics Sexy Ways. In response, Thicke et al. filed a complaint against the Gaye family and Bridgeport Music. They claimed that Blurred Lines and Got to Give It Up only shared the same genre, not melody. The judge, however, found significant similarities between the two, and the appeal upheld that decision. Musicians were not happy with this development, with over 200 musicians signing their support for the appeal. You could say there are a lot of blurred lines when it comes to copyright law.

Which other song do you know had a contentious lawsuit? Let us know in the comments down below!